A blog with no theme

Sup, yo.

With the downfall of Multiply, leaving me homeless on the internet, I realized that I haven't been blogging nearly as much these days as I have in the past and it led me to wonder why that might be. Maybe it's that I have nothing to say. Maybe it's concern about who might be reading what I post. However, in the past, neither of those things have stopped me. Let's hope that I can actually get back to blogging regularly.

In more exciting news, IT IS SHARK WEEK! In case you weren't aware of that. Shark Week is my favorite time of year. All shark shows on the telly, all the time. It does make me happy. I've always liked watching underwater nature shows on telly. Something about watching the fish is so relaxing. Sharks aren't necessarily relaxing, but they are so interesting. Especially the Air Jaws shows, with great whites breaching to catch seals. I would like to go and see that in person at some point. How to convince Matt that we need to take that trip...

We do have an upcoming trip in October out to Monterey, CA to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which sits right on the bay. I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't decided if using the big zoom lens on the camera will be more hindrance than its worth. I've not tried using it on aquarium fish, even though I did take it to the MN Zoo earlier this summer. It requires more light than a smaller, more standard lens, and underwater exhibits aren't always terribly well-lit. I have read, however, that the Monterey Bay Aquarium exhibits are lit with photography in mind and they recommend learning how to turn the flash off on your camera before you visit.

Turning the flash off is one of the first things I figure out on any camera. My previous SLR camera (non-digital) didn't have a built in flash, so I had gotten used to taking pictures without flash. My first digital camera was a fairly simple point-and-shoot, and I turned the flash off as soon as I figured it out. Same thing with my digital SLR. I'm so used to taking pictures without a flash, I hardly ever turn it on. When I'm at the zoo, I see people with their little point-and-shoots, and they take pictures through the glass with the flash on, and it makes me cringe. And they take one picture and walk away without looking at the display. Are you kidding me? The first thing I do after I snap a picture is look at the display and see how it turned out, then I take another picture. I have my camera set to take pictures as long as I have the button pressed. The more options you have, the more likely you are to get an amazing picture.

Like this one (even though this was the first shot I took, I have 3 other versions of the exact same shot, just in case)

I could talk about photography for hours. If you want more of that, just let me know.